THE study analysed the gender gap at the highest levels of mathematical ability to see if more boys than girls fell into the top percentiles of scores. It found negligible differences except in the 99th percentile, where boys did outnumber girls slightly.
But among Asian Americans, the study found that the reverse was true: More girls than boys scored above the 99th percentile. Researchers think this may be a cultural, not gender-based, difference.
The researchers calculated an 'effect size', which measures the degree of difference between girls and boys' average maths scores in standardised units. The effect sizes they found - ranging from 0.01 and 0.06 - were basically zero.
The study looked at differences in SAT scores, which typically show boys scoring higher than girls in maths. But this is probably attributable to a skewed pool of test takers.
About 100,000 more girls than boys take the test, including lower-achieving girls who bring down the girls' average score.